Whenever I see stuff like this, I consider it good news and bad news for the independent movement. How's that? Well, the bad news is that partisan politics is so crazed that people are being arrested and indicted by grand juries for petitioning to put initiatives on the ballot for folks to vote on. And the good news is that the parties are so crazed because there is a significant and growing constituency in America that doesn't like partisan politics and is willing to do something about it.
National term limits leader and initiative rights advocate Paul Jacob and two others were indicted in Oklahoma on October 2, 2007, on felony charges of violating the state's statute requiring petition circulators to be residents of Oklahoma. "This indictment is not about the law, but about politics — ugly, anti-democratic politics," said Paul Jacob. Click on the link to go to the Free Paul Jacob website and learn more.
And then the indictment was "dismissed".....
Rich Winger reported on this November 22nd in Ballot Access News: "The Oklahoma indictment against Paul Jacob, Susan Johnson, and Rick Carpenter, for allegedly conspiring to bring out-of-staters to circulate an initiative petition in Oklahoma in 2006, has been dismissed. However, it is likely to be re-filed."
Was it a grand jury "mistake"? Was it politics on the part of AG Drew Edmondson?
Jacob wrote a piece this week in The Free Liberal called The Oklahoma 3: "Maybe it's time for all Americans -- conservative, liberal, populist, libertarian -- to "conspire" together to take back our political system from the gutter. Before it's too late."
You can read more of this story on LegalNewsline:
Jacob, a long-time proponent of citizen-initiated referenda, accused Edmondson's office of intimidation by pursuing the indictment, saying "Their prosecution is a 100-percent politically-motivated attempt to threaten and intimidate me, and any other citizens wishing to petition their government...."
A recent editorial in the Wall Street Journal also noted that those opposing ballot initiatives are legally allowed to recruit out-of-state money and bodies to boost their efforts."[P]ublic sector unions opposed to the Tabor initiative recruited people from outfits like the Oregon-based Voter Education Project, an offshoot of the AFL-CIO that specializes in countering signature drives....
National term limits leader and initiative rights advocate Paul Jacob and two others were indicted in Oklahoma on October 2, 2007, on felony charges of violating the state's statute requiring petition circulators to be residents of Oklahoma. "This indictment is not about the law, but about politics — ugly, anti-democratic politics," said Paul Jacob. Click on the link to go to the Free Paul Jacob website and learn more.
And then the indictment was "dismissed".....
Rich Winger reported on this November 22nd in Ballot Access News: "The Oklahoma indictment against Paul Jacob, Susan Johnson, and Rick Carpenter, for allegedly conspiring to bring out-of-staters to circulate an initiative petition in Oklahoma in 2006, has been dismissed. However, it is likely to be re-filed."
Was it a grand jury "mistake"? Was it politics on the part of AG Drew Edmondson?
Jacob wrote a piece this week in The Free Liberal called The Oklahoma 3: "Maybe it's time for all Americans -- conservative, liberal, populist, libertarian -- to "conspire" together to take back our political system from the gutter. Before it's too late."
You can read more of this story on LegalNewsline:
Jacob, a long-time proponent of citizen-initiated referenda, accused Edmondson's office of intimidation by pursuing the indictment, saying "Their prosecution is a 100-percent politically-motivated attempt to threaten and intimidate me, and any other citizens wishing to petition their government...."
A recent editorial in the Wall Street Journal also noted that those opposing ballot initiatives are legally allowed to recruit out-of-state money and bodies to boost their efforts."[P]ublic sector unions opposed to the Tabor initiative recruited people from outfits like the Oregon-based Voter Education Project, an offshoot of the AFL-CIO that specializes in countering signature drives....
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